My kids graduated from college but I'm not sure it was worth the money. The Internet has transformed how we learn and higher education also must change.

It's the best of times. It's the worst of times. I'm talking about college graduation.

While receiving a diploma is a proud moment, many graduates will leave school with tens of thousands of dollars in debt and unprepared to land a job.

The Bible says, "The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding." — Proverbs 4:7. For me that meant sending my kids to college. We'd figure out how to pay off the loans later. But as a proud parent of three college graduates, I have wondered if we'd really gotten our money's worth.

There are three problems with colleges today.

The first problem is the cost. As USA Today has noted, college tuition and fees increased by "a whopping 1,120%" from 1978 to 2014. At the same time, the price of food rose from 244% and medical expenses 601%.

And according to CNBC, "In 2036, 18 years from now, four years at a private university will be around $303,000, up from $167,000 today."

Former Education secretary Bill Bennett, author of Is College Worth It?, answered with what one writer called the Bennett hypothesis: “College tuition will rise as long as the amount of money available through federal student aid continues to increase with little or no accountability.” Bennett also said that "46% of students don’t finish college in six to eight years."

And listen to this. Unpaid student loan debt is $1.4 trillion according to the Federal Reserve. Which means that a large number of students who hold the debt never graduated. So how did this happen?

Former Dirty Jobs TV star Mike Rowe put it this way: "We’re lending money we don’t have to kids who can’t pay it back to educate them for jobs that don’t exist anymore, and that’s crazy,."

And that is the second problem — dopey degrees for jobs that don't exist.

You can get a degree in puppetry, bagpiping and storytelling. Seriously. Those sound like hobbies that could turn into a career if you find an audience.

When I went to college there were no degrees in editorial cartooning. You know why? Because there are so few jobs available. So I educated myself by studying the work of the best cartoonists and deconstructing their work to understand how it's done. Then I landed a job working for a weekly newspaper and learned the business firsthand from professional journalists.

The third problem is the college culture.

Liberal professors outnumber conservatives nearly 12 to 1. This is in dramatic contrast to a 1968 study that put the Democrat-to-Republican ratio in history departments at 2.7 to 1.

Recently Rowe posted an article that questioned the necessity of everyone getting a four-year degree. It was viewed 3 million times and not everyone was pleased.

In response to his naysayers, he wrote on Facebook that "the hypocrisy in our educational system is rank, the bias undeniable, the disrespect for our flag ubiquitous, and the entire 'safe space' mentality the exact opposite of what life is like in the real world. Higher education has created its own PR nightmare," he wrote. "Is it any wonder parents are trying to figure out if their kids should be sent into such a lopsided environment?"

Let's face it, the Internet has transformed the way we learn today. Online video tutorials make learning faster and a whole lot cheaper. So it's logical that the future of higher education must transform.

A more efficient, less time-consuming and less-expensive way to train workers is the way America did it in the 1950s — apprenticeships.

In 2013, Ron Brumbarger founded Apprentice University. His students gain experience through on-the-job training in a variety of skilled trades and jobs like digital marketing and cyber security. This could be the future of higher education.

In 1992, Brumbarger co-founded BitWise Solutions Inc., a digital marketing, web design and development firm which he sold earlier this year. As an employer who has interviewed thousands of people over the years, he said he was never interested in “what did you study or what degree do you have.” He only wanted to know three things: “Do you have the skills to do the job? Do I like you? Can I afford you?”

Instead of teaching for the test, schools should be training for the job.

But for colleges that continue to offer dopey degrees for jobs that don't exist I have a suggestion for a fun new college degree — Bachelor of Editorial Cartooning Art Therapy.

I'd be happy to teach it. Just make me an offer.

Gary Varvel is a cartoonist and columnist at the Indianapolis Star, where this piece first appeared. Follow him on Twitter: @varvel.